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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Crumpets

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Do you know the difference between a crumpet and an English muffin? You probably do, but because we're friends I hope you'll humor me. Did you know that English muffins are an American invention? They were created by the "nooks and crannies" guy, Samuel Bath Thomas, towards the end of the 19th century. His goal was to create a crumpet that could be split and then toasted on both sides. Unfortunately, history does not tell us why this feat was of such great importance to him. While many use the terms interchangeably, there is a real difference between a crumpet and an English muffin. Muffins are made from a drier batter than crumpets and are served split rather than whole. The crumpet is cooked, stovetop, in a shallow ring mold that allows its bottom to become a lovely brown while the top develops a gazillion tiny holes that are perfect vessels for holding copious quantities of butter and warm jam. In England they are usually served for tea, while here they are served for breakfast. Let me insert, at this point, a disclaimer. While I love crumpets, I make them only once or twice a year. Life in any kitchen is a matter of choices, and while I bake all our bread, I'm quite content to purchase commercially prepared crumpets as long as I know I can make them if I have to. The "can if I have to" mind set was fueled by an economics professor who insisted my generation would starve to death surrounded by animals we had never learned to hang and dress. I was very impressionable, so, in addition to making crumpets and cheese, I stand at the ready if you ever need a chicken's neck wrung. My crumpet recipe comes from James Beard. I have an equally delightful recipe for English muffins that was developed by Julia Child. We'll do English muffins in a few weeks. Today we are all about crumpets. Tea anyone?

Directions:1) Combine milk and boiling water in a large bowl. Cool until lukewarm. Add yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until bubbly. Mix salt with flour. Add to yeast mixture and beat with a spoon for several minutes. Let batter rise until doubled in bulk and slightly bubbly. Beat dissolved soda into batter. Let rise again until doubled in bulk.2) Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium-hot heat. Position buttered rings in pan. Spoon batter into rings to a depth of about 1/2-inch. Cook until dry and bubbly on top. Remove rings, turn crumpets and brown lightly on the other side. Transfer to a rack to cool. Toast and butter to serve. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Since my daughter is gluten intolerant, I make all of our bread products. To make them really tasty, I stalk good cooks and then modify their recipes to make them gluten free. My daughter is going to be tickled when I make crumpets for her. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

I, also, have an odd obsession with learning to do things myself, on the off chance that I might have to do it myself.:D

I'm sorry to say this but I had never heard of crumpets, all we ever had at our Mexican kitchen was hoo-ckeas (pancakes) LOL. But then again I also didn't know English muffins weren't English.thanks for the lesson.

I keep trying to tell my husband that English muffins aren't English and he doesn't ever believe me.

This is wonderful, you know I can't get crumpets out here in Germany and I miss them terribly, I get my parents to bring some whenever they visit. I've tried lots of recipes but they all ended up turning out more like English muffins. I am totally going to try these! thank you!

You are so kind in starting your post assuming many of us do know the difference between crumpets and English muffins. I did not and this was enlightening. I think I will have to try this recipe too, with good tea and homemade jam, yum!

I do love crumpets and I buy mine from Wolferman's (but never very often) -- there is something about tea and crumpets and scones and cream in the parlor on a winter day in front of the fire . . . . oh, my, has someone found a body in the library?

Mary, I don't believe I've ever eaten a crumpet and I sure didn't know the difference between English muffins and crumpets. What a wonderful history story you've shared. Thank you. I love to know the history of food.

So glad to see someone use a James Beard recipe. It seems he's become forgotten and that's a shame.Sam

Those crumpets look gorgeous! Just perfect airy holes. You know I love my afternoon tea. I used to love flying British Airways because they gave crumpets and clotted cream for afternoon tea. Sadly, it's now just a packaged biscuit ie. cookie.

That's hilarious about your professor, and could end up being true in crisis times I suppose. There are certainly a lot of culinary skills out there that this generation no longer has for the most part due to mega marts and such! Anyway, your crumpets look wonderful.

I like crumpets, but have a hard time finding them in the stores near me - I've always thought those little holes are a lot like the holes that appear in the tops of pancakes on the griddle - I guess that is indeed what they are.

Lovely photos, awesome blog! and thanks for the recipe ;) I tried making some today. The taste was great but had some difficulty pouring the mixture into my tin. Is the mixture supposed to be sticky and not flowy?

Sheryl, Don't add more water to the batter. While I know it sounds counter-intuitive, use a damp spoon and damp hands to drop and smooth the dough. More water will not help unless you've used to much flour to begin with. The more you do this, the easier it will become.

I'm sorry to correct you but you need to do a little bit more research. [English] muffins were originally from England. Their origination dates back to the 1700, and they are mentioned in literature and cookbooks of that time. Also, the real [english] muffin was never split in half and buttered. It was split at the edges and butter was placed into the splits created that way. One source for my information is English Bread and Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David.

Have you been able to order crumpets from Wolferman's recently? I always order some around Christams, but none of the selections seem to include them, not even the "pick your own" that I usually purchase. I'm devastated, but I'm so glad you posted this recipe. Now I suppose I can try my hand at making them for Christmas breakfast.

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